Car makers urged to be proactive about cybersecurity in connected cars

Car makers must do more to secure their connected vehicles against malicious hacking, research firm Frost & Sullivan argues in a new whitepaper.

The document notes that in the past, vehicles were closed systems and there was no need for a detailed security model. But as the industry evolves, more and more vehicles are communicating with other vehicles and with outside infrastructure.

According to Frost & Sullivan, it may be only a matter of time before a life-threatening attempt is made to hack into and control a vehicle. And the firm believes that “the inevitable malicious attempts will target a vehicle that is already on the road”.

In the United States, the recently proposed Security and Privacy in Your Car Act (SPY Car Act) aims to establish a rating system that shows consumers how well each vehicle protects drivers’ security and privacy beyond certain minimum standards.

“Automakers must collaborate with the security community, become educated, and implement a holistic approach,” said Doug Gilman, automotive & transportation industry analyst for Frost & Sullivan. “Cybersecurity will continue to be a dominant topic, and OEMs, rather than the government, must take back the leadership role.”

Earlier this year, KPMG published a report on connected and autonomous vehicles in which it forecast that every single new car in the UK will have some form of connectivity by 2030, and more than a quarter will be fully autonomous.

Yet while this connectivity brings a whole host of benefits, it also increases the potential hacking threat.

“With no current method of identifying whether a car has been hacked, OEMs face a two-fold challenge: securing future vehicles and retrofitting security for existing fleets,” Frost & Sullivan warned.

We’ll probably never see a 100% secure connected car but that shouldn’t lessen the need for manufacturers and suppliers to have cyber security at the forefront of their thinking when introducing new features. It is an absolutely key issue which needs industry wide attention and collaboration.” – Simon Spooner, Partner